Dear class,

Great discussion today.  Below is the homework for September 7, followed by blog instructions and reading questions.

1. In light of the CUNY standard of 3 hrs of out-of-class prep time for a 75 min session, the following includes a suggested breakdown of how you might spend those 3 hours of HW/prep.

-Read and take notes on “The Elements of Fiction” (1 hrs)

-Read “Everyday Use,” taking margin notes using reading questions (see below) and plot graph (ENG 2001 plot graph F16) (1-1.5hrs)

-do blog, or comment (30 mins-1hr).

-Print out + bring Charters, Walker, and the Plot Graph (with notes) to class.  (Your plot graph does not have to be exhaustively detailed, but it should show some attempt to break down “Every Day Use” into its parts.)

There will be a quiz on “The Elements of Fiction.” If you’ve read it carefully, you will be fine!

2.  As noted in class, Blog Group 1 is up to post for this Wednesday.  Whether you’re in that group or not, please make note of the following steps, as they include commenting instructions.

a. Read the Guiding Questions below and select ONE Blog Prompt.

b. Blog prompts are divided in to 3 categories: Clue (explain how a passage offers a clue to the story as a whole), Connect (connect the story to the world outside the text), or Create (do a creative writing piece, followed by a brief explanation of how your piece directly responds to the original story), .  By the end of the semester, you should have tried at least one of each category.

c. Go to “Posts” and “Add New.”  Write a 300 word post, by 5 pm the day before class.  The post should feature the minimum # of quotations, directly respond to the prompt, and adhere to professional standards of civility and proofreading.

d.  Create posts should include both a creative writing section and a brief explanation/analysis, explaining how your piece is directly rooted in the text.  If you write a creative writing piece that either has nothing to do with the original story, or directly contradicts it, you’ll be penalized.

e. Before posting, select your category: Clue, Connect, or Create.

f. Post!

g. The rest of the class now has until 10 am the following morning to post a comment.  Comments should be 100-150 words and should directly respond to a point in the original post.  Again, standards of civility and professionalism are expected. You are expected to post 14 comments, approx. one per week, throughout the semester.

g.  Remember, blogs and comments are part of a process.  They grow out of engaged in-class participation, and they lead to better, more thoughtful papers.  Conversely, if you’re not doing the blogs, it will affect both your blog grade and, in all likelihood, your papers.

3.  Below are the reading questions and prompts for Wednesday’s class.  I suggest reading these questions before you start “Everyday Use.”

1.  Which Elements (e.g. Style, Character, POV) were most appealing in “Everyday Use”?  Which Elements were the most troubling or confusing?  Blog prompt: clue.  Write about one appealing and one troubling/confusing Element in “Everyday Use.”  Refer directly to at least one quote from the story for each Element.  Explain how that quote offers a clue to why your chosen Element is appealing or confusing.

2. Ann Charters defines the rising action of a story as “the dramatization of events that complicate the situation and gradually intensify the conflict.”  Locate moments or actions that intensify the conflict, or complicate the situation, in “Everyday Use.”  They could be a comment that Dee/Wangero makes, or an action that Ma Johnson takes, or even one that she doesn’t take.  Blog prompt: create.  Pick one “rising action” moment in “Everyday Use.”  Pretend you are Wangero/Dee.  If you were writing an email to a friend about that moment in your visit home, what would you say?  What feelings did that moment spark in you?  As you create this imagined response, refer directly to at least one quote from the story.

3. Ann Charters defines the climax of a story as its “turning point,” its “emotional high point.”  After the climax, “the pace of the narration [tends to] break off dramatically.”  What single moment would you identify as the climax of “Everyday Use” and why?  Blog Prompt: connect. Think of a climactic moment in your own life – a moment of maximum drama or suspense.  It could be taking an important exam, or waiting to hear news from the doctor, or avoiding an accident.  How does that moment resemble, or differ from, the climax of “Everyday Use”?  Refer directly to at least one quote from the story, explaining how that quote helps you connect the story to your own experience.

best,

Professor Kwong